Irish Open 2024: Manassero takes lead, McIlroy trails by two shots

Matteo Manassero handled the brunt of the afternoon cold and wind and made two eagles on his way to a 5-under 66 for a one-shot lead in the Irish Open on Friday.

Home favourite Rory McIlroy caught a break in the weather in the morning and failed to capitalize as much as he would have liked. He started on the back nine at Royal County Down in moderate conditions, failed to birdie the par 5s and had a 70 to finish two shots behind.

Temperatures dropped severely in the afternoon and players were wearing hand warmers to cope with the cold. Manassero opened with an 8-foot eagle putt, and the Italian recorded another eagle with an iron to 2 feet on the par-5 12th.

It was a struggle coming in with the wind, and he twice escaped trouble to make par.

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Manassero, who won this year in South Africa on the European tour, was at 6-under 136. He was one shot ahead of Todd Clements (71) and Laurie Canter (68). McIlroy was tied with Ewen Ferguson of Scotland (69) and Alejandro Del Rey of Spain (71).

Another shot behind was Daniel Brown, who was tied for the lead until getting caught in the thick grass and native areas at Royal County Down, taking a triple bogey on his final hole at the par-4 ninth and wiping out a good day of work. He wound up with a 1-under 70.

McIlroy, who grew up about 40 miles (60 kilometers) to the north in Holywood, was satisfied with his position going into the weekend, yet still disappointed he didn’t do more considering the more favorable conditions for slightly more than half of his second round.

“I felt like the course was there a little bit for the taking this morning,” he said. “We started on the back nine, too. So we had the two par 5s and the drivable par 4s, so to only play the back nine in even par, I was a little disappointed.”

He hit into a pot bunker on the 12th and missed the fairway on the 18th, both times having to lay up on the par 5s. But he made the turn and hit 8-iron to 15 feet for eagle.

“I played pretty solid on the way in,” he said. “Felt like I left a couple of shots out there but, you know, still in a good position.”

Plus, it was better than his last Irish Open at Royal County Down in 2015, when he opened with an 80 and missed the cut.

“Much better than nine years ago when I was watching the third round on TV,” McIlroy said. “Happy to be here for the weekend and happy to give myself a chance.”